Blending The Elements Of Tragedy And Comedy In The Merchant Of Venice

The difference between lamentable and laughable situations is sometimes very narrow. Irony in comedy and tragedy are naturally connected by their relationship to pathos. Comedy rejects empathy and pity and tragedies demand it. The use of tragicomic elements in literature and short stories has been around for centuries. They have appeared everywhere from Plautus’ burlesque to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. Shakespeare is unsurpassed in his ability to provide insight into the human state and the connection between tragedy and comedy. The Merchant of Venice is a good example of this. The play deals with the prejudice against Jews, homosexuals and Christians, the hypocrisy of Christian judgement by mercy, but also the villainy of Shylock.

Antonio’s opening statement, “Insooth, I don’t know why I’m so sad,” gives the play a mood of speculative sadness. Solanio & Salerio claim that Antonio’s sadness might be due his high-risk business dealings. Antonio answers by saying, “Fie! Fie!” However, when asked about the possibility that Antonio’s misery is related to love he snaps back, “‘Fie! It is clear from their exchange, which isn’t an outright confession of homosexuality but is nonetheless a declaration of love, that Bassanio owes Antonio the most – both in terms money and love – and Antonio owes him “my purse, myself, and all my means are unlocked at your occasion.” Antonio’s devotion and undying love for Bassanio is a sign of the intensity between same-sex bonds.

Why would Antonio be sad, if they are in a great relationship? It’s possible that Bassanio was courting Portia and the marriage might end Antonio’s and their relationship. Bassanio tells Antonio that they had both expected this given the disorganized state of his property. Antonio’s homosexual desire for Bassanio could be the reason behind his sadness. Antonio, the Venetian merchant, could have been conflicted over his homosexual desire for Bassanio but also his anti-Semitism. While the irony offered by a “homophobic heterosexual” could be taken as a joke, the true tragedy is that the merchant is genuinely in love and is unable to see the other side.

The play is full of bigotry that goes far beyond the sexual orientation. It becomes anti-Semitism, racism, and even prejudice. Irony of the Christian/Jewish rivalry in this play is the Christian message that compassion toward neighbors contrasts with overt antisemitism in Christian characters. More ironically, the intolerance towards Jews is not religious but racial. The Christians are not religiously tolerant. However, their persecution of Shylock and his daughter is more a xenophobic contempt of “‘the particularities in blood-lineage or increasingly nation””. Lancelot and Jessica’s exchange makes this clear. Lancelot says that Jessica’s birth means she is “‘damned”, but that Jessica can have a “bastard chance” to be saved. Jessica could “hope that your father didn’t get it, that you weren’t the Jew’s child.” Jessica isn’t necessarily being persecuted because she shares her dad’s religion. It could be that it is his blood.

The play is not fair to label Lancelot as the only Christian character with an antisemitic viewpoint. In reality, most Christian characters at least once express racism against Jews. Gratiano epitomizes the prejudices of many characters, including the play’s “most outspoken antisemites.” He even goes so far as to utter a lengthy hate speech about Jews. Gratiano makes a comical suggestion that he might be doubting his Christian faith in one such tirade. It is ironic because his anti-Semitism and Christian beliefs do not go together. Shakespeare might be using irony in a commentary against the Christian racism. But he also may have a deeper motive, such as promoting the “soul of English culture” or the “long tradition of Jewish suffering.” Even when the situation of the Jew is portrayed in an exaggerated and perhaps humorous manner, the tragic nature of it cannot be removed.

Christian foulplay is prevalent throughout the entire play, especially in the trial for Shylock. Portia uses Christian principles as leverage to get the Jewish Shylock to lose the case. This could be considered “psychospiritual greed,” considering that the sentence given to Shylock does not reflect the full extent of mercy. If Mercy was the Christian’s intent, why publicly humiliate Shylock, going against both his own family traditions and religious beliefs?

It is ironic and hypocritical to use Christian ideologies as evidence in the trial, because the advocates of these ideologies do not adhere to their own teachings. Antonio’s earlier words in the play that “the devil could cite Scripture to his purpose” can be used to convict them. It’s clear, whether it’s subliminal in nature or deliberate, that Christian characters are “hypocritical” by projecting all their worst traits onto scapegoated Jews. Shakespeare wants the Christian characters to identify with his audience. Thus, the irony is subtle. The irony in the play is intentionally ignored to maintain the comedy. However, it cannot be denied that the characters’ hypocrisy throughout the trial and their complacency are what allow the story to flourish.

The character of Shylock is one of the most complex aspects of The Merchant of Venice. The ambiguity surrounding Shylock’s character is perhaps the most difficult aspect of critically interpreting Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice. Shylock might have both characteristics of a villain and a character who is sympathetic. Why else could Shylock not be “portrayed as a hateful figure but one that commands our sympathies”? And “a farcical, comic figure who is greedy enough to make us laugh, with every line, and his mannerisms intended to bring belly-laughs”?

Shylock’s creation could only have been to represent contradictory characteristics. Why else are the most poignant and emotional lines of the play uttered when Salerio says, “thou will not take his body?” It’s a bait for fish, he replies coldly. It will only feed my revenge if it does nothing else. Shylock speaks in a way that is compelling, even if it’s not the words themselves. His questioning of “‘If we are picked up, do not we bleed?” and his other statements, such as when he asks: “Do not you pick us? If you tickle, don’t we laugh? Revenge. What should a Christian do if he wrongs a Jew? What is meant by “revenge”? It could be only interpreted as an appeal for sympathy and compassion.

Shakespeare knew that Jews in medieval plays, Corpus Christi pageants, and passion play were often portrayed as the “incarnation of evil” and that they practiced “usury” (lending money to gain) and that this animosity was so strong that “the word “Jew” became synonymous with evil. He asks for sympathy with the devil. This is ironic. However, Shylock plays on the stereotype of Jews of that time, by adding a simple and ridiculous Jew who makes money. Solanio reveals this when Shylock says ridiculous things like, “‘My Daughter! Oh, my ducats! Shakespeare plays off the audience’s preconceived notions about Jews, suggesting that Shylock would be a simple, avaricious, usurer and compare his daughter with his ducats. Shakespeare is able to openly provide comedy in a play that might have not been understood by many. However, this does not mean he has reduced Shylock to an easy villain. This only adds to Shylock’s complex personality.

Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice uses irony in order to make the audience laugh, not lament the difference between the intellect and the emotions. In fact, comedy appeals to the mind with “wit” and spectacle, while tragedy engages the emotions of fear and sympathy, or the heart. The line between what appeals to the brain and what appeals to the emotions is thin. The Merchant of Venice embraces unintelligibility and combines tragedy and comedy to produce irony, which is intrinsically humorous. The irony in the play would make Shakespeare the one to demand a pound from the heart of the reader, rather than Shylock.